Monday, September 03, 2012

Obama To Iran: 'As Long As You Don't Attack US Facilities, Israel Is On Its Own'

The Israeli newspaper Yediot is reporting that the Obama Administration has sent a message to Iran through two European nations (Switzerland and Germany would be my guess) that the United States will not back or support an Israeli strike on Iran and that Israel is essentially on its own as long as Iran refrains from attacking U.S. interests and facilities in the Persian Gulf such as bases and ships:

According to the report, Washington has used covert back channels in Europe to clarify that the US does not intend to back Israel in a strike that may spark a regional conflict.

In return, Washington expects Iran to steer clear of strategic American assets in the Persian Gulf, such as military bases and aircraft carriers.

Israeli officials reported of an unprecedented low in the two nations' defense ties, which stems from the Obama administration's desire to warn Israel against mounting an uncoordinated attack on Iran.

Actually, the unprecedented low stems from President Obama 's attitude towards Israel,which he's never made any secret of to anyone paying attention.

If you parse this, it's quite revealing. Here we have a long time,valuable U.S. ally being threatened with genocide by a nation that has conducted what amounts to open war against America, and the United States has pretty much informed Iran that it is cutting Israel loose. As far as the Obama Administration is concerned, not only is Iran free to continue developing its illegal nuclear weapons program, but if the Israelis attempt to do anything about what amounts to an existential threat, the U.S. will not support them.

It also tells the Iranians and their proxies Hezbollah and Hamas that they are perfectly free to attack Israel at a time of their choosing as long as they don't hit any U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf or interrupt the oil flow.And it tells Iran's ally Russia that they are free to interfere and mix in without any American counterweight.

This is reminiscent of what Charles DeGaulle of France did to Israel on the eve of the Six Day War, when he told the Jews that France, then Israel's chief arms supplier, was no longer backing them and they were on their own.

Aside from the perfidy of throwing a long time U.S. ally to the wolves and being complicit in what amounts to a threat of genocide, one has to wonder what kind of sense openly informing Iran of this makes strategically.

Why would Iran be more likely to enter into negotiations now that they know Israel's chief ally has essentially abandoned them, a military strike by the U.S. is off the table and one by Israel no longer has U.S. backing? And what kind of message do you think this move is sending to America's other allies, and to our enemies?

And finally, if the idea of this is to dissuade Israel from making a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, this just made it a lot more likely. The Israelis know they only have a window of 3 to 6 months before Iran hardens its nuclear facilities and makes taking out their nuclear facilities almost impossible.If President Obama is willing to go this far now, when he's in the middle of a hotly contested campaign,the Israelis have to know that he'll go much farther in distancing himself from the Jewish state if he's re-elected.

Even President Lyndon Johnson waited until hostilities had actually started in 1967 before announcing U.S. neutrality, and he also took steps to let the Soviets know after war broke out that active intervention by the Soviets on behalf of their clients would be countered by the U.S.

But then Lyndon Johnson was personally sympathetic to Israel, even as he preserved U.S. neutrality.

Barack Obama sees Israel not as a U.S. asset, but as a colonial outpost he's essentially hostile to and as a problem to be 'managed' because of domestic politics.

The end result, of course, is that the Israelis are going to do what they do anyway, since they know that they cannot longer count on their U.S. ally and time is running out.

If President Obama is re-elected, look for America to lose one of its most important allies, and for Israel to increase its already expanding ties with China.

UPDATE: Iran has let the Great Satan know that its' attempt to abandon Israel means nothing to them. According to Hezbollah's Sheikh Nasrallah, the Iranians have rejected the U.S. appeal and have decided to attack U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf if their nuclear facilities are attacked.

"A decision has been taken to respond and the response will be very great," Mr Nasrallah told Al Mayadeen, a Beirut-based television station.

"The response will not just be inside the Israeli entity. American bases in the whole region could be Iranian targets. If Israel targets Iran, America bears responsibility."

Awww. I suppose that even worse than selling out an ally is when the country you're trying to appease has so little respect for you that they refuse to accept the gesture.